Since the CS 14 no longer connects to EB 28

[RRrich]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

 

[jmbgeg]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

Here is a marketing idea for Amtrak. If this is a temporary schedule revision that is due to track work or other similar causes, Amtrak could go out and negotiate special discount rates for PDX hotels for train 14 passangers to connect to the next day's 28 (one economy hotel, one mid-market and one quality) at a room rate below other discounts like AAA. Those of us who choose to overnight instead of taking the KFS bus would be happier campers.

 

[Exiled in Express]

I splurged and stayed at "The Nines" on my Portland overnight, it is a direct light rail link from the station or a longer walk if you choose. It is Portland's only 5 star hotel, so I did it for the novelty. Being the only 5 star makes it easily identifiable on Hotwire . I think with the taxes it was $105, it was nice and I learned that anything much above a Holiday Inn will be lost on me.

 

[sechs]

I stayed at The Nines a few months after it opened and was not impressed. Worth what I paid, but not the stars.

 

[jmbgeg]

I splurged and stayed at "The Nines" on my Portland overnight, it is a direct light rail link from the station or a longer walk if you choose. It is Portland's only 5 star hotel, so I did it for the novelty. Being the only 5 star makes it easily identifiable on Hotwire . I think with the taxes it was $105, it was nice and I learned that anything much above a Holiday Inn will be lost on me.

If you like Starwood hotels, the Westin is much better at likely lower rates.

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Reservations received a memorandum last night indicating that there will not be any bus bridges to connnect 14/28 during Q1 2011. Pax ticketed for this connection will overnight in Portland and catch the next day's 28. I just called proactively and had my reservation for 28 changed, rather than wait for their call and possibly lose my preferred room number. If you're in the same boat, perhaps give Amtrak a call soon and get your changes squared away.

 

[Rail Freak]

Reservations received a memorandum last night indicating that there will not be any bus bridges to connnect 14/28 during Q1 2011. Pax ticketed for this connection will overnight in Portland and catch the next day's 28. I just called proactively and had my reservation for 28 changed, rather than wait for their call and possibly lose my preferred room number. If you're in the same boat, perhaps give Amtrak a call soon and get your changes squared away.

Who is picking up the cost of overniting?

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Reservations received a memorandum last night indicating that there will not be any bus bridges to connnect 14/28 during Q1 2011. Pax ticketed for this connection will overnight in Portland and catch the next day's 28. I just called proactively and had my reservation for 28 changed, rather than wait for their call and possibly lose my preferred room number. If you're in the same boat, perhaps give Amtrak a call soon and get your changes squared away.

Who is picking up the cost of overniting?

We'll have to hear from other members on that as I didn't take it up with Amtrak. My assumption was that, even if they would agree to pay for a hotel, they would have chosen it for me. Instead, I am going to book something nice and make the most out of my extra night in Portland.

 

[Rail Freak]

Reservations received a memorandum last night indicating that there will not be any bus bridges to connnect 14/28 during Q1 2011. Pax ticketed for this connection will overnight in Portland and catch the next day's 28. I just called proactively and had my reservation for 28 changed, rather than wait for their call and possibly lose my preferred room number. If you're in the same boat, perhaps give Amtrak a call soon and get your changes squared away.

Who is picking up the cost of overniting?

We'll have to hear from other members on that as I didn't take it up with Amtrak. My assumption was that, even if they would agree to pay for a hotel, they would have chosen it for me. Instead, I am going to book something nice and make the most out of my extra night in Portland.

The reason I asked is I did the same thing last night. I'm paying for the room, but at least I'm not cancelling my trip! I asked the AGR Supervisor for hotels they book the crew. He said he suggested the Marriot Residence Inn Downtown/ River Place & even gave me the phone #. So, There is where I'll be on Feb 12th!!! ( They have a shuttle to pick you up & deliver you to the station!) Most of all, I wont be charged for an additional zone reward (15 k points) & I have a roomette all the way back home (Florida)!!! Oh, and no Bustitution!!!

Have Fun

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

Reservations received a memorandum last night indicating that there will not be any bus bridges to connnect 14/28 during Q1 2011. Pax ticketed for this connection will overnight in Portland and catch the next day's 28. I just called proactively and had my reservation for 28 changed, rather than wait for their call and possibly lose my preferred room number. If you're in the same boat, perhaps give Amtrak a call soon and get your changes squared away.

Who is picking up the cost of overniting?

We'll have to hear from other members on that as I didn't take it up with Amtrak. My assumption was that, even if they would agree to pay for a hotel, they would have chosen it for me. Instead, I am going to book something nice and make the most out of my extra night in Portland.

The reason I asked is I did the same thing last night. I'm paying for the room, but at least I'm not cancelling my trip! I asked the AGR Supervisor for hotels they book the crew. He said he suggested the Marriot Residence Inn Downtown/ River Place & even gave me the phone #. So, There is where I'll be on Feb 12th!!! Most of all, I wont be charged for an additional zone reward (15 k points) & I have a roomette all the way back home (Florida)!!!

Have Fun

I'll miss you by a week as I'm coming into Portland on the the 19th. My general experience this morning was similar to yours in that the agent was very graciously working with me to rejigger my plans. She proposed several different options before we decided upon the Portland overnight. She mentioned that the CS/EB directive was handed to her last night as she was leaving work, and that she was reading it more deeply as we were talking on the phone.

I'm glad your plans worked out too RF! An extra night in Portland will be fun, and we'll have a good portion of the next day to explore the city before 28 departs. And as for bustitution, we can Just Say No. :giggle:

 

[jmbgeg]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

I am now getting this trying to book SPK-LAX.

Problem Finding Service: The service you requested is not available because there is no same day train connection. Please try a different route or different dates.

[Error ID: 205A]

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

I am now getting this trying to book SPK-LAX.

Problem Finding Service: The service you requested is not available because there is no same day train connection. Please try a different route or different dates.

[Error ID: 205A]

Sounds like they are not allowing new bookings and just addressing those that have already been made.

 

[AlanB]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

I am now getting this trying to book SPK-LAX.

Problem Finding Service: The service you requested is not available because there is no same day train connection. Please try a different route or different dates.

[Error ID: 205A]

Sounds like they are not allowing new bookings and just addressing those that have already been made.

That would be normal procedure, block out future reservations that no longer work.

 

[Cascadia]

We loved the Hotel Monaco in Portland, and they offer a special deal for people who travel to Portland on Amtrak. Discount on the room and a free cab ride to the station when you leave. (at least they did when we were there last March)

http://www.monaco-portland.com/

One thing we liked was that our reservations were fully cancellable and refundable, a lot of the other hotels we looked at didn't give refunds for cancellations.

Our room was very small but it didn't seem to matter. And there was only one chair, but they brought us a second one immediately when we asked for one. The decor in the hotel is very artistic and one reason to visit.

 

[jmbgeg]

We loved the Hotel Monaco in Portland, and they offer a special deal for people who travel to Portland on Amtrak. Discount on the room and a free cab ride to the station when you leave. (at least they did when we were there last March)

http://www.monaco-portland.com/

One thing we liked was that our reservations were fully cancellable and refundable, a lot of the other hotels we looked at didn't give refunds for cancellations.

Our room was very small but it didn't seem to matter. And there was only one chair, but they brought us a second one immediately when we asked for one. The decor in the hotel is very artistic and one reason to visit.

Very cool.

 

[Rail Freak]

Reservations received a memorandum last night indicating that there will not be any bus bridges to connnect 14/28 during Q1 2011. Pax ticketed for this connection will overnight in Portland and catch the next day's 28. I just called proactively and had my reservation for 28 changed, rather than wait for their call and possibly lose my preferred room number. If you're in the same boat, perhaps give Amtrak a call soon and get your changes squared away.

Who is picking up the cost of overniting?

We'll have to hear from other members on that as I didn't take it up with Amtrak. My assumption was that, even if they would agree to pay for a hotel, they would have chosen it for me. Instead, I am going to book something nice and make the most out of my extra night in Portland.

The reason I asked is I did the same thing last night. I'm paying for the room, but at least I'm not cancelling my trip! I asked the AGR Supervisor for hotels they book the crew. He said he suggested the Marriot Residence Inn Downtown/ River Place & even gave me the phone #. So, There is where I'll be on Feb 12th!!! ( They have a shuttle to pick you up & deliver you to the station!) Most of all, I wont be charged for an additional zone reward (15 k points) & I have a roomette all the way back home (Florida)!!! Oh, and no Bustitution!!!

Have Fun

Now, if the #5 could be about 6 hours late into EMY,

, but that may be asking a little much!

 

[rtabern]

A co-traveler/friend of mine off the AUF and I were planning to do a cross country loop together in March:

CHI-LAX-PDX-CHI-BOS (with me going on BOS-WAS-NOL-CHI-MKE)

But, yes because of the nice connection break in there at PDX, we had to re-schedule everything and scramble a bit.

(A credit to this forum though -- because I heard about it on here first before Amtrak called me about it!!!!)

Anyway, I guess we could have spent the night in PDX, but I think if I had a whole day layover in PDX, I would rather do it in the summer when it was warmer out... it can get quite nasty in PDX in March!!!)

So, I think what we decided to do is:

CHI-PDX #27

PDX-MTZ #11

MTZ-RNO Snow Train w/ the Great Whooz Dome

RNO-CHI #6

CHI-NOL #59

NOL-WAS #20 (-NYP/BOS for my co-traveler)

WAS-CHI #29

 

[wayman]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

I am now getting this trying to book SPK-LAX.

Problem Finding Service: The service you requested is not available because there is no same day train connection. Please try a different route or different dates.

[Error ID: 205A]

Sounds like they are not allowing new bookings and just addressing those that have already been made.

That would be normal procedure, block out future reservations that no longer work.

I haven't been keeping up on the news, and now my internet connection is minimal as I'm on the rails... so pardon me if I'm asking questions answered recently elsewhere.

I'm booked on 14/28/448 departing LAX 31 Dec 2010. It's an AGR redemption, reserved sometime in November (at which point the itinerary was still a standard guaranteed connection). I've heard nothing (from Amtrak or AGR) to indicate any problems.

1) Do whatever new schedules break this connection go into effect for my travel dates?

2) If so, with an AGR redemption whom do I call (Amtrak or AGR)?

Thanks!

 

[ColdRain&Snow]

I haven't been keeping up on the news, and now my internet connection is minimal as I'm on the rails... so pardon me if I'm asking questions answered recently elsewhere.

I'm booked on 14/28/448 departing LAX 31 Dec 2010. It's an AGR redemption, reserved sometime in November (at which point the itinerary was still a standard guaranteed connection). I've heard nothing (from Amtrak or AGR) to indicate any problems.

1) Do whatever new schedules break this connection go into effect for my travel dates?

2) If so, with an AGR redemption whom do I call (Amtrak or AGR)?

Thanks!

You will be fine leaving Los Angeles on 12/31 as #14 changes its departure time starting on January 2, 2011. No worries.

 

[Rail Freak]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

I am now getting this trying to book SPK-LAX.

Problem Finding Service: The service you requested is not available because there is no same day train connection. Please try a different route or different dates.

[Error ID: 205A]

Sounds like they are not allowing new bookings and just addressing those that have already been made.

That would be normal procedure, block out future reservations that no longer work.

I haven't been keeping up on the news, and now my internet connection is minimal as I'm on the rails... so pardon me if I'm asking questions answered recently elsewhere.

I'm booked on 14/28/448 departing LAX 31 Dec 2010. It's an AGR redemption, reserved sometime in November (at which point the itinerary was still a standard guaranteed connection). I've heard nothing (from Amtrak or AGR) to indicate any problems.

1) Do whatever new schedules break this connection go into effect for my travel dates?

2) If so, with an AGR redemption whom do I call (Amtrak or AGR)?

Thanks!

AGR!!!!

Have Fun

 

[lyke99]

I called AGR and asked if I could overnight in PDX - on my dime to be sure.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?

We liked the Courtyard by Marriott-City Center in Portland. Two stops south of the Amtrak station on the MAX green/yellow line trains.

 

[rrdude]

Forgive my stupidity, (regular members are used to it) but is this schedule change permanent, or is it due to track/MOW work?

 

[Trogdor]

The change is due to a series of MoW projects up and down the route (at least three different ones, I believe). It ends on March 31.

 

[friendly45]

The Vintage Plaza is not too far from there. And Kimpton Hotels offers a discount with the rate code "RAILS": 15% on the best available rates with proof of train ticket at check-in.

Question - what nice, not too expensive hotels are near the Amtrak station?